Emir of Qatar visits Abbey

Wednesday, 27th October 2010

The Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, accompanied by Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, visited Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 27th October 2010 during a State Visit to Her Majesty The Queen.

They were welcomed to the Abbey by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who then escorted them on a short tour. During the tour His Highness was shown Henry VII’s Lady Chapel which is also the Chapel of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. The Queen had previously presented the Emir with the Insignia of an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath.

The Dean presented the Emir with a bound volume of A World of Worship, a collection of illustrations from its 14th century illuminated manuscript, the Litlyngton Missal. The Emir signed the Abbey’s Distinguished Visitors Book.

Following the tour, His Highness attended a dialogue chaired by the Dean in the Jerusalem Chamber with the Right Reverend Michael Lewis, Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf; the Right Reverend David Hamid, Suffragan Bishop of Europe, Professor David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity and Director of the Inter-faith Programme at the University of Cambridge and Canon Guy Wilkinson, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Secretary for Inter-Religious Affairs.